Two jailed after push-out thefts

SANDPOINT — Two Washington state men have been arrested for making off with $7,000 in merchandise in shopping cart push-out thefts at Walmart in Ponderay.

Jeffrey Victor Anderson and Calvin C. White are charged with grand theft and burglary in connection with the heists. They were arraigned in Bonner County Magistrate Court via videoconferencing on Monday, although the status of their bail and legal representation was not immediately available.

Anderson, 32, and White, 22, are accused of pushing out carts filled with merchandise on Feb. 16 and again on Feb. 23, according to criminal complaints. In the earlier theft, the two allegedly pushed shopping carts filled with $2,500 worth of merchandise through a fire door and muscled the carts into a pickup truck.

The duo allegedly returned on Saturday, but abandoned some of the swag in the parking lot during their escape, according to a Ponderay Police affidavit. They were later apprehended in a traffic stop on U.S. Highway 95 at Bottle Bay Road.

Anderson and White are accused of orchestrating similar thefts at a Walmart in Smelterville on Feb. 14, court records indicate.

The push-out thefts modi operandi were similar across all three thefts, the police affidavit said.

The affidavit describes the suspects sweeping entire shelves full of portable speakers into shopping carts, in addition to video game consoles, video games and clothing.

Anderson, the affidavit said, told police they came from the Spokane area to pull off the heists. Clark, meanwhile, invoked his right to remain silent

Preliminary hearings in the cases are pending.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.